Seal for rotating shafts



June 6, 1939.

G. P. GILMAN SEAL} FOR ROTATING SHAF'TS Filed Sept. 28, 1936 Patented June 6,

George P. Gilman, cum, m, assignor to 3.0-

ta'ry Seal 00., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application September as, 1926, serum. 102377 4 Claims.

My invention relates in general to seals and sealing andhas more particular reference to the sealingofrotating shafts in order to prevent the' escape of. fluids along the shaft past a wall or journal through which itextends. I An important object of the present invention is to provide a self-contained'seal device comprising sealing elements assembled in, a shell or casing whereby the same may be merchandised as an integrated unit ready for assembly as a unit parts entirely formed of sheet metal" parts of in sealing position on the shaft.

Another important object is to'provide a seal of inexpensive construction, the invention to this 'end contemplating the fabrication of metallic seal relatively simple configuration.

-Another important object is to provide a shaft,

seal formed and assembled as a complete integrated unit ready for assembly .on the shaft and an enclosed in a casing in which may be loaded or charged a lubricating mediumin quantities sumcient to supplyadequate lubrication to the seal throughout the normal life thereof so that the device-requiresnoattentionwhatsoever as long a formed to fit snugly within the housing formed as it is in service.

Another important object is to provide a selflubricating seal. I These and numerousother important objects, advantages, and inherent functions of the ina vention will be fully understood asthe same becomes apparent from the following description, which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, discloses a preferred embodiment of the invention.

. Referring to the drawing:

shaft through the opening l5 in a'wa1l I! through Figure'l is a sectional view taken througha seal embodying the'present invention, the seal being shown assembled in operating. position on a rotatable shaft; and

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the seal form-' ing the parts shown in relatively exploded position.

i3 for sealing the same against leakage along the which the shaft extends.

.The seal comprises elementsassembled and housed within a cup element 15 having preferably cylindrical side walls 2i and an end wall 23 forming the bottom of the cupshaped element, the

I other end being open; A cover 25 may be provided for closing the open' end of the shell IS. The shell, of'course, may e of any suitable or r convenient size and I prefer to form the sameto (cl; ass-'1) the embossment 23 ofthe casing element is.

To illustrate ammal-1. I haveshown on the drawing a shaft seal ii forum on a shaft fit preferablysnugly within a pocket formed by an annular ridge 21 on the wall ll through which the shaft extends, said ridge or wall 21 encircling the shaft to provide an annular pocket therearound into which the seal may be assembled.

The end wall 23 of the shell l9 ispreferably provided with an inward embossment 28 defining an opening 29 through which the shaft l3 may extend and the cover 25. is "likewise formed with an opening-3i for receiving the shaft. Within the housing formed by the shell i9 and the cover 25 is assembled a plurality of seal elements including a pair of cooperating. shells 33. and 35,

by the cooperating elements 33 and 35 and the element 33 is formed with an embossment 41 at the opening 31, said embossment 41 being, adapted; torlde upon and form-riding contact with Means is provided within the casing element IQ for resilientlywpressingthe shells 33 and 35 towards each other and-upon the packing. ring 45 whereby the material of the ring is compressed by and between the elements 33 and 35. In the illustrated embodiment this compressing function is accomplished by means of a spring 49 and a bearing washer 5!, the peripheral edges of which comprise a fiange' 53 for receiving one end of the spring 49 and the inner edges of which are curled as at to bear upon the outer surfaces of the element 35 near the margin thereof. The opposite end of the spring 49, of course, engages the cover- 25 which, after the elements of the seal have been assembled in the shell i9 is applied and secured on the open end thereof.

The cover 25 may be secured to the casing element- I! in any suitable or preferred manner and. I have shown the shell element It formed with notches 51 adapted to receive lugs or ears 5.

1 formed on the cover whereby to prevent relative rotation of the cover on the shell. To secure the cover in place, the edges defining the open end of the shell element may be peened over upon the cover oriaid edgesmay be welded, soldered,

said shellscomprising preferably annular cups be sold or delivered as such to the user.

orotherwise secured to the the cover element.

It will be seen that the spring 49 functions to abutting edges of press theshell elements 33 and .35 together, causing the flanges 4| and 43 to interfit, and compressing the packing material 43 between the shell elements. Theshell elements, however, comprise an expansible casing and the spring has suflicient resflience to maintain compression on the packing asthe same becomes worn in order to snugly press the packing upon .the shaft on which the seal is assembled. The spring 49 also serves to press the embossed portion 41- of the shell element 33 upon the corresponding embossment 2'! of the casing element I9 whereby to maintain a running seal between said parts.

The seal comprises an assembled unit and may The seal may be assembled simply by forcing the same on to the shaft and sliding it along the shaft axially into the socket provided by the walls 21. Thereupon a cover plate 51 may be applied to the edges of the annular wall 21 and secured in place in any suitable fashion, as by means of the screws 59 in order to hold the seal unit in mounted position. The assembly operation may, of

course, be facilitated by lubricating the inner face a of the packing ring 45 but after the seal has been assembled, the action of the spring is such as to press the ring snugly upon the shaft and to form driving connection between the shaft and the ring which thereafter during the life of the seal will rotate with the shaft. Spring 48 also *ensures that the elements 33 and 35 will also rotate with'the shaft. The shell element It and the cover 25, however, because of the extensive superficial engagement thereof with the surfaces of the wall I! and the cover 51 and also with. the annular wall 21 will be held against rotation. The spring 49 and the ring 5| may also remain stationary so that the seals 33 and 35 and the packing ring rotate between to form running connection with the embossments 21 and ii.

Theseal of mypresent invention may also be charged ith a quantity of lubricant by filling the casing 2| with a lubricating medium. To this end the casing is may be filled with oil through the opening 3i before the unit is assembled on the shaft. 7 This will not only assist in the assemblage operation by wetting the inner surfaces of the packing ring 43 thereby enabling the same to slip more freely along the shaft during the mounting operation, but after the unit is in place the oil will be retained substantially within the casing and may not escape through the opening 29. Some of the oil may, of course, escape through the openiim 3l .and outwardly along the shaft, but a sumcient quantity of lubricating m'edium mayberetainedwithinthecasing'll toconstitute the device as a self-lubricating seal substantially throughout its entire service life. presence.

' bearing may form a running fit on said seat, said of oil not only improves the sealing effect, but

also serves to reduce wear between the shell elements 33 and 35. and the embossed portions 21 .and 5!.

The seal ofmy present invention is neat and 5 compact and may be sold or delivered to the customer for assembly as a unit in a shaft. The seal construction is inexpensive since the casing elements I! and 25, the shell elements 33 and 35, and the pressure ring 5| may all be formed from simple sheet metal stampings while the spring 49 is an inexpensive, standard element.

It is thought that the invention and its numerous attendant advantages will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and it is obvious'thatnumerous changes may be made in the form, construction, andarrangement of its several parts without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention or sacrificing its attendant advantages, the form herein described being a preferred embodiment for the purpose of illustrating the invention.

What I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A seal for rotating shafts comprising sheet 25 metal means embossed to form an annular seat, a cooperating pair of cup-shaped members ,form- .ing expansible housing, at least one of said cup-shaped members being of sheet metal and having an embossment forming an annular bearing adapted to engage said seat, packing material within said expansible housing, and resilient means operatively associated with said housing to urge the same toward said seat whereby said resilient means operating also to compress the cup-shaped members whereby to squeeze the packing material therebetween.

2. A seal asset forth in claim 1, wherein said means forming the annular seat comprises also a casing for enclosing the expansible housing and the resilient means to form a self-contained seal unit, said seat being formed in ,a --wall of said casing, and said resilient means being operatively positioned to exert a pressure between one of said cup-shaped members and a wall of said cas-' -ing opposite said seat. Y

thrust ring in pqsition'reeeiving the thrust ofsaid spring and bearing upon'one of the members forming said housingwhueby to transfer tosaid the thrust the stationary nucleon-r. air-min. 

